Devblog #17. Gene Lab: Customizing Skill Properties.

Hello everyone.

In today’s devblog, I will finish describing how the Gene Lab works. In previous devblogs, I already covered gene development in the lab: fusion for increasing allele tiers, as well as operations involving a single gene — consumption, stabilization, and destabilization.

The final group of operations is not related to the gene itself as a source of attributes, but to skill properties. I have already explained before that properties on genes can transform skills: change their type, add additional effects, strengthen certain aspects of an ability, or adapt it to a specific build. The Gene Lab is where the player can manage these properties.

Gene Substrate

Gene Substrate is a resource obtained by deactivating a property on a gene. In essence, an unnecessary property is recycled into a universal material that can later be used to customize other properties.

When the player extracts from an enemy, or obtains through fusion, a gene of the third allele tier, a random skill property appears on it. But not every property will be useful for the current character build. Sometimes it belongs to a skill the player does not use at all. Sometimes the property itself is good, but does not fit the current strategy.

In that case, it can be removed from the gene and converted into Gene Substrate.

This operation is performed in the lab and is called deactivation. The player selects genes in the inventory whose properties are no longer needed, after which those properties are removed from the genes. For each removed property, one unit of Gene Substrate is added.

It is important that deactivation does not destroy the gene itself. It does not remove its main effect, does not lower its allele tier, and does not break the item. The gene remains in the inventory and can still be used: it can be placed into the Gene Map, fused with another gene, or processed in other ways. Only the skill property layer is removed.

As a result, even an unwanted property does not become useless. It can be recycled and later used for more precise build customization.

How Substrate Is Used

There are two main ways to use Gene Substrate in the lab.

The first way is to add a new property to a gene. This operation is called property recombination.

During recombination, the player selects a gene of a suitable allele tier, then selects the skill they want to transform, and after that chooses one of the available properties for that skill. Unlike the random property that appears when a gene reaches the third allele tier, this choice is controlled by the player.

As a result, the gene receives the selected skill property.

This operation links the gene to a specific skill. After that, a property for another skill cannot be added to the same gene until the current property is removed through deactivation. However, additional properties for the same skill can be added to that gene if the player wants to develop that specific ability further.

The second way to use substrate is to strengthen an existing property. This operation is called property implantation.

If recombination is responsible for adding a property, implantation is responsible for developing it. During implantation, the selected property is strengthened to the next tier, while the player spends Gene Substrate. This allows the property to be gradually upgraded, making it a more important part of the build.

Rebuilding the Build

The main feature of this system is that the player does not have to permanently lock in the selected properties.

During the game, properties can be removed from a gene again, returning the substrate invested into them and allowing it to be used elsewhere. Because of this, the lab allows the player not only to assemble a build once, but to rebuild it throughout the run.

For example, the character may start the game using the Lifedrain Strike skill and a property that transforms how it works. After an attack, instead of instantly stealing health, the skill begins to apply a regeneration aura to the player, restoring health every turn.

The player can add this property to a gene and gradually upgrade it. Early in the run, this option can provide strong survivability.

But later, the character may receive a mutation that reduces the effectiveness of regeneration or interferes with this type of recovery. In that case, the previous strategy becomes weaker. The player can then return to the lab, remove the property from the gene, recover the invested substrate, and use it for another direction - for example, strengthening direct healing or switching to a different way of restoring health.

As a result, the build does not completely collapse because of a single mutation. The player gets a way to adapt and continue the run by rebuilding properties around the new conditions.

Why This System Exists

When working in the lab, the player can precisely control different layers of their build.

• Fusion strengthens the gene itself and increases its allele tier.

• Finalization specializes the gene as a source of attributes.

• Property operations, however, specialize not the gene, but the skills it supports.

That is why the Gene Lab in Irsen is not just a place for increasing numbers. It exists for constant character rebuilding. The player receives random genes, random properties, and random mutations, then gradually turns that set into a working build.

For me, this is one of the core ideas of the game: the character does not develop along a predetermined upgrade path. The character changes throughout the run, adapts to the genetic material found along the way, and tries to maintain control over their own body for as long as possible.